Improvement in meters



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JAMES HARRIS, OF vBOSTON, ,IVIASSACHUSET'IS Letters Patent No. 88,475, dated March 30, 1869. V l

IMPROVEMENT IN METERS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all persons to whom these presents may come Be it known that LJAMES HARRIS, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, and State ofMassachusetts, have made a new and useful Improvement in Vater-Meters;

and I do hereby declarethe same to be fully describedin the following specification, and represented in .the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure l denotes a horizontal section of my watermeter case, without its pistons or valves.

Figure 2 is a' transverse section ofthe meter.

vFigurel 3 is a longitudinal section taken through one of the pistons and its chamber.

Figure 4 is an under-side View, and

Figure 5, a side elevation of one of the valves or pistons.

Figure 6 is an oblique section of such valve, or piston, the plane of section being through one of its oblique water-passages.

Figure 7 `,is a side elevation ofthe lneter.

Figure 8 is an oblique section ot' the water-case, it being taken through one of the oblique passages leading from one piston-cylinder to or about to the end of the other.

On May 23, 1865, Letters Patent, No. 47,893, were granted on a water-meter, invented ,by George F. Blake, the plungers,` or pistons of suc-h meter being 'constructed so as to enable them to perform the functions, or double duties of pistons and valves, thus saving the necessity of having valves separate from the plungers, as had previously been the practice in meters provided with two plungers, or cylinders, arranged in parallel cylindrical chambers, in manner as represented in the accompanying drawings.

I have found that when the ports, or mouths ofthe waterfpassages, leading from the wearing-surfaces of the pistons and cylinders, are arranged closely together, there is great liability of wear of the intervening surfaces so as to cause leakage. The greater the intervening surface between any two of such mouths, whether of the cylinder lor plunger, the less will be the liability of wear and consequent leakage.

The arrangement ofthe ports of the aforementioned patented meter, renders it particularly liable to soon Wear and leak, so as to make it an unfaithful measurer of the ilowage,the principle of the meter, that is, the plungers operating as plungers and valves, rendering it specially useful in other respects.

p I have,therefore, endeavored to produce, or invent such a new arrangement ofthe valve-passages and their mouths, with respect to the rubbing cylindric surfaces of the plungers and their case, as would mateiially, if not entirely, diminish the chance of wear of the rubbing-surfaces between the ports. This arrangement constitutes my present invention, or improvement, and I particularly disclaim the principle, or principles of construction, as claimed in the said patent.

In the drawingsference of the piston at .t or k.

A and B denote the two cylinders, arranged side by side, 'each being provided with a piston, D, or E, made to open laterally -into a cylindrical chamber, C, arranged at right angles to them, and provided with a cap, or cover, c, such being as represented.

Each piston, D, or E, has a chamber, b, or b', extending transversely across it; and there is arranged within the chamber G, and pivoted to the bottom thereof, a shaft, F, having an arm, Gr, extended from it intolone of the said chambers l1 orb. This shaft projects through the cap a, and is the impelling-shaft `of a registering-mechanism, to be placed on the metercase.

Figure 9 is a longitudinal section of the'piston D, and Figure 10, a longitudinal section of the piston E. The lpiston D has one port', c, leading through it from its chamber b. It also hasVY two passages I,

leading obliqnely through itl, the mouths, or ports of which are shown-at al, c, f, and g. rIhe two extremes, or mouths of the passage H are d and f, and those of the passage I are e and g.

Figure 11 is an under-side view of the piston D, and

Figure 12 is a similar view of the piston E.

The said piston E has two ports, lm, opening out of the chamber b', and arranged near the two ends of the piston. .Midway between the two ports. l m, is a port, h, from which two passages, KL, lead obliquely,

in opposite directions,- and open through the circum- Furthermore, each piston has a long groove, n, made in one side of it, to receive a stud, o, projecting from the inner side of the cylinder of the pistou, the purpose of the stud and groove being to prevent the piston from' turning around out of place in its cylinder while in motion therein.

An inlet-pipe, M,leads into the side of the cylinder A. At the bottom of each cylinder, and close to its ends, are two ports, they being arranged as shown at p q, in the cylinder B, and at fr s, in the cylinder A.

Besides these ports, there are three other ports to' each cylinder, they and their arrangement being shown at w, n, and y, for the cylinder A, and at o t x, for the cylinder B.

The two ports, :c and y, are outlets, and may lead into a common discharge, or eduction-pipe.

The four ports, t, u, o, Iand w, are inlets, and each of them communicates, by a separate oblique passage, with one of the ports p q lr s that is to say, the ports p and u are the termini of one oblique passage, N; the ports 'r and tare the termini of another oblique passage, O; the ports q andw are the termini of an oblique passage, P; and, finally, the ports s and c are the termini thus, by sucn arrangement, we get a long space, or

' are on one side of such plane, and the outlet-port is on the other side of it, the connections of the inletports with the end ports being by oblique passages, N O I Q, leading through the body of the case.

vIt will also be seen, that in further carrying out my invention, or improvement, the ports ofthe lower surface of each of the pistons have such an arrangement that two, (viz, t k, or f g,) which are in one line with each other, do not extend between the next adjacent three, l h m, or c c d, but, with them, are on opposite sides of a medial line, such arrangement being highly favorable for the production of long bridges, or spaces between the ports.

Each, of the pistons, while in operation, has an intermittent motion, its stoppages, or periods of rest being while the other piston is in motion, and being for the purpose of completing the passages by which the water, for actuating the moving piston, is led to it, and the water, discharged by it from the case, is led into the outlet, or port of discharge.

My improved arrangement of ports and passages, in the cylinders and pistons, will not only eifect such movements cf the pistons, under the pressure of a coll umn of water let into the case, but cause the pistons and cylinders to work together with very little wear and leakage in comparison to what would result from the arrangement of ports and passages of the patented meter hereinbefore mentioned.

Therefore, in carrying out my new arrangement, substantially as described, of the ports and water-passages of the two cylinders and their pistons, the iniddle inlet and outlet-prts-oi eac-h cylinder' are to be on opposite sides of the medial line running through the two end portsv of such cylinder, and the two inletports of one cylinder are to be connected with the two end ports of the other cylinder, by separate oblique passages. One piston is tov have two ports, and the other, but one port, communicating with its middle chamber. Two of the ports, in each piston, are' on one side` of the medial line, and the other three ports are on the opposite side of such line, and the two ports fg, of one piston, are connected with the ports e d thereof, by oblique passages, H I. The port h, of the other piston, is connected with the two ports c' k thereof, by two'blique passages, K L, inadein the piston.

I make no claim to the broad combination of cylinders, pistons, piston chambers, ports, and connecting water-passages, as hereinbefore specied, my claim to invention resting on an arrangement rather than a combination of such parts. Therefore,

What I claim as my invention, orimprovcment, is-

My new arrangement, substantially as described, of the piston-chambersv b b', and the several ports, and the connecting oblique water-passages of the two pis tons and their cylinders, the two end ports, under such arrangement, being in a vertical plane passing through the axis of the cylinder, while the two inlet-ports are on one side of such plane, and the outlet-port is on the other side of it, and the connections of the inlet-ports with the'end ports are effected by the oblique passages N O P Q, leading through thebody of the case, all as set forth.

. JAMES HARRIS.

Witnesses:

R. H. EDDY, F. P. HALE, Jr. 

